Optical device for viewing moving pictures.



H. F. STOWELL. OPTICAL DEVICE FOR VlEWING Movme PICTURES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-3,1914.

Patented J 11110 1, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEETI wi-twzoow H. F. STOWELL. OPTICAL DEVICE FOR VIEWING MOVING PICTURES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, I914.

lmnmi 3 mm L 1915).

3% ow to: Siva/QM witnmo HENRY F. STOVJELL, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK,

OPTICAL DEVICE FOR VIEWKNG MOVING PICTURES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Pat outed June 1,1915.

Application filed November 3, 1914. Serial No. 870,144.

7 '0 all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, HENRY F. Srownnn, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and Sta-teof New York, have invented certain 5, new and useful Improvements in Optical Devices for Viewing Moving Pictures; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the .same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specifica'tion, marked thereon.

.My present invention relates to optics and it has for its object to provide certain improvements in devices of the nature shown and described inv my prior application, Serial No. 863,356, filed September 24, 1914, w'herein the principle of the stenopaic slit or ppening is utilized for the purpose of reducing the illumination at certain man oints where the rays enter the eye 5 and thus reduce the flickering appearance of moving pictures.

The-improvement seeks to render de 26 vice \of this character easily altcrable o vary the amount of light admitted to We 1 eye and hence suitable for the most efii cient use by. different people whose acute'n'ess of vision is not the same.-

1 To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and coin binations of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claimsat the end of the specification. 1

In the drawings: Figure l is a front clevation of an optical device constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of myhnvention; Fig. 2 is a top edge View thereof; Fig. 3 is a section taken substantially on the line 3*? of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 as a front "elevation of a mochfied form of\ the device;ig. 5 is a front eleva tion of another mo ification; Fig. 6 is a top edge, view of the device shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a front elevation of a third modification; Figs. 8 a d 9 are similar views of two other modi cations, and Fig. 10 is a section taken substantially on the line 10910 of Fig. 9.

Similar reference numeralmthroughout the several figures indicate the same parts.

In my said former applicatioihl have explained at length the general funct ons of to an optical device of the present character and to the reference-numerals and I need not therefore explain it so fully herein. There is provided a pair of eyepieces ll preferably composed of two integral disks out from a relatively thin but sheet of black paper or other opaque material. A suitable opening 2 to accommodate the nose of the wearer is provided be tween them and above this opening they are connected by a bridging portion 3. Each disli .or eyepiece contains a centrally arranged ste'nopaic slit or opening 4 that may, for. average purposes, be made about a twentieth of an inch in width. The device is held before the eyes in the case of Figs. 1, off, 8 and 9 bya' lorgnette handle 4: that is preferably pivoted at the outer edge of one of the eyepieces by means of an eyelet so that it is foldable to a position parallel because of their restricted nature, cut off most of the excess or marginal rays and with the bridge. When so held, the pictures "are viewed through the openings 4 which,

prevent the. strain upon the eye incident to the fiickering' effects that otherwise result from the excessive illumination.

Those individuals. possessing exceptionally. acute vision obtain the best results with a very narrow opening of even less than the average width of about a. twentieth of an inch, above mentioned, while others re quire a much Wider, opening to obtain good definition and, because of their optical insensitivencss, can use such wider opening without the flickering eifect of the pictures becoming noticeable to them,

I therefore, in the practice'of my present invention, provide a simple, cheap and convenient means for varying the width of the openings to suit the particularneeds of the individual umrs.

Referring first to Fig. 1, I there employ a pair of movable shutter members 6 each having an obscuring edgeg'l that travels in substantial parallelism toward and from an. opposite edge of the opening 4 in each instance. I prefer to pivot the shuttermembers, for which purpose on eyelet 8 is r0- vided at the center of the bridge 3 on w ich eyelet both shutter members turnp-the frictional resistance being sufficient to maintain as not to project beyond the margins, but they may be still easily moved with the fingers.

In the form of the device shown iii Figs J tions of shortening up the slot or opening,

the said openings 9 being of graduated lengths.

Referring next to Figs. 5 and 6, the obscnring edge 7 is there shown in the form of two converging lines that intersect at such a point that, as the shutter member is moved downwardly in the figure from the dotted to the full line'position, the slot 4 is progressively shortened fromend to end until a substantially regular, as distinguished from an oblong, opening of any desired minuteness is obtained. It is here shown, also, that the eyepieces 1-1 may also be pivoted on the eyelet 8 to move relatively to each other, while in lieu of the handle 4, nose-engaging flaps 10 are provided which may be formed from extensions on the shutter mem bers 6 rather than upon the eyepi'eces.

In Fig. 7, the obscuring edges 7 of the shutters are made semi-circular to vary, in an obvious way, the final restriction under the principle utilized in Fig. 5, and here, as in Fig. 4, the shutters are mounted on separate eyelets 11 at the sides, one of whlch eyelets is also used as a ivot for the handle In Fig. 8, the modi ed form of shutter acts in much the same manner as does that c? Fig. 4, but the several slots of the last mentioned figure are merged into one opening 12, having stepped end walls.

An exceedingly simple way of widening and narrowing the slots 4 is shown in. Figs. 9- and 10, in which device the two long edges ill'iereof are constituted by the free ends of flaps 13 that the flexibility of the paper or other material of which the device is composed permits of being swung toward or from each other so that'the degree of inclination is varied and the opening between them controlled. in the process of adjustment, they are first spread out, whereafter "they may be pressed lightly between the thumb and finger in successive trials until the desired minimum width of opening is obtained. v g

It will be noted that all of the parts of the device in all its forms may be blanked out from sheet material, black paper, as before suggested, being eminently iitable.

I claim asm inventioni 1. A non-flic er device for viewing movmg pictures comprising apair of eye ieces composed of thin opaque material an each provided with a restricted sight opening of variable width.

2. A non-flicker device for viewing movingpictures comprising. a pair of eyepieces composed of thin opaque material and each prpivlided with a stenopaic slot of variable wi t 3. A non-flicker device for viewing moving pictures comprising a pair of eyepiecesv composed of thin opaque material and each provided with a sight opening and with a movable shutter device for restricting the width of said opening. i

I 4. A non-flicker device for viewing mov' ing pictures comprising a-pair of eyepieces composed of thin opaque material and each provided with a sight opening and-with a pivoted shutter device arranged to swing across the latter for restricting the width of ed to accommodate the nose of the wearer H and otherwise connected by a bridging portion having a centrally arranged eyelet, each eyepiece being provided with a sight opening and with a shutter device movably mounted on the eyelet for restricting the width of the sight opening.

7. A non-flicker device for viewing moving pictures composed of a thin sheet of opaque material formed into a pair of eyepieccs partially separated by a space adapted to accommodate the nose of the wearer and otherwiseconnected bya bridging portion having a centrally arranged pivot, each eyepiece being provided with a sight opening and with a shutter device arranged to swing on the pivot for the purpose of restricting the width of the sight opening.

HENRY F. STOWELL. 

